High challenge - high support for all

Helping staff move towards a more high challenge / high support (HC/HS) mode of working with students is fundamental to school improvement leading to success and well-Being for all.
Many staff experience this as an "either/or" dilemma because they see

• (a) high challenge as working ON

• (b) high support as working FOR

The resolution is to understand HC/HS as working WITH students. This means working with students on the basis of relationships (respectfully collaborating, sharing responsibility, values, purposes...) more than roles.But for some staff this seems to undermine their "role" (another either/or dilemma)
The resolution is to understand that

• working on the basis of relationships is usually more productive and is therefore the preferred mode, but

• when relationships are not productive, then the work continues on the basis of roles, at least in the interim

Staff development tends to focus on acquiring new pedagogical strategies and  needs to be undertaken using a HC/HS approach. That is, to resolve the above dilemmas,  staff need practical alternatives that are supported and endorsed by the school (and community) including:

• curriculum developments that include SEL 
• understanding the difference between change and improvement
• solution focus
• matching leadership, e.g., restorative leadership (an interesting recent development!!)
• associated organisational developments, including the
development of some "universal" ways of doing things and solving problems

 At Riverside we developed some 'universals' that served us well, including

• Our Job

• Easier First

• Broken Windows

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